Hockey legend Gordie Howe dies at 88

His decades-long career earned him the nickname 'Mr Hockey'

AP

Gordie Howe, the legendary National Hockey League star, whose career spanned five decades, has died at the age of 88.

The Detroit Red Wings confirmed Howe’s death on Friday morning.

“We are celebrating the life of a devoted husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and a friend to all,” Howe’s family said in a statement to the Associated Press.

Howe died in his son Murray’s home in Sylvania, Ohio.

Many considered Howe the greatest hockey player of all time, as he was affectionately known as “Mr Hockey” by the end of his long career. He took the Detroit Red Wings to win four Stanley Cup trophies.

Howe also set records with 801 goals and 1,850 points throughout his career, which lasted from 1946 to 1971 and 1973 to 1980.

His shot record was first broken by Wayne Gretzky, the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings centerman commonly known as “The Great One”.

“Unfortunately we lost the greatest hockey player ever today, but more importantly the nicest man I have ever met,” Mr Gretzky wrote in a tweet.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman expressed his grief on behalf of league, calling Howe “incomparable”.

“Gordie's commitment to winning was matched only by his commitment to his teammates, to his friends, to the Red Wings, to the city of Detroit and - above all - to his family,” he said. “Sending our thoughts and prayers to the Howe family and to the millions of hockey fans who, like me, loved Gordie Howe. RIP Mr. Hockey.”

How was born in on a Canadian farm in Floral, Saskatchewan, on 31 March 1928, just before the Great Depression.

“Someone was going door to door, selling bags of stuff for $1 and in one of those bags, dad got his first pair of skates,” his son Mark Howe told the AP.

Howe retired from the Detroit Red Wings after 25 years in the league, but he had a successful return to hockey playing for the Houston Aeros and Hartford Whalers.

Remarking on his return to the game, he simply had no choice but to do well. Howe had his legacy on the line.

“If I failed badly,” he said, “people would remember me more for trying to make a stupid comeback at 45 than for all the other things I did in hockey.”